if i could say anything to my future daughter,
it would be this:
you’ll be the girl that walks through the graveyard
just to feel the bodies moving underneath you,
& you’ll want to touch a man like that.
so you take ghosts home and let them into your bed
after checking under it
for monsters.
i would tell her, nothing’s gonna mend your broken heart.
you’ve got to get the tape and the twine
& stitch it back together. it’s too bad
i never taught you how to sew.
no amount of sugar for breakfast in your coffee
will wash away the bitter taste in your mouth.
everyone’s got a hungry soul; the only difference
is that some are hungrier than others.
you’ll be the girl who’s a shipwrecked fool
and falls hard for the bad ones.
they’ll leave you tied to the bed, and in return
you’ll give them a few hickeys and a slender wrist
with the palm cupped full of shadow.
be the one that always knows how to love,
but never figured out how to leave.